Callahan denies Brown’s ‘sabotage’ claim

Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Callahan has categorically denied Tim Brown’s allegations that he “sabotaged” the Raiders in the 2003 Super Bowl by changing the game plan 36 hours before the game.

Brown, a former star wide receiver for Oakland, claimed in an interview Saturday with SiriusXM NFL Radio that Callahan hated the Raiders organization and wanted to help his friend, then-Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, win a Super Bowl. The Buccaneers went on to blast Callahan’s Raiders 48-21.

According to Brown, Oakland prepared to run the ball during the first two days of practice only to have Callahan change the game plan to throw the ball 60 times.

Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice said he agreed with his former teammate.

“For some reason – and I don’t know why – Bill Callahan did not like me,” Rice told ESPN on Tuesday. “In a way, maybe because he didn’t like the Raiders, he decided, ‘Maybe we should sabotage this a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one.”

In a statement released from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Callahan said he was “shocked” and “saddened” by Brown’s “ludicrous, defamatory” claims.

“I am shocked, saddened and outraged by Tim Brown’s allegations and Jerry Rice’s support of those allegations,” Callahan’s statement read. “To leave no doubt. I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegation. To suggest otherwise, especially at this time when it involves the Super Bowl, is ludicrous and defamatory. Any suggestion that I would undermine the integrity of the sport that I love and dedicated to my life to, or dishonor the commitment I made to our players, coaches and fans, is flat out wrong. I think it would be in the best interests of all including the game American loves that these allegations be retracted immediately.”